Archive for the ‘Nashville Predators’ Category

Sunday evening, the Preds were in town and left a little deflated. They had been on a 4 game winning streak, only to be beaten 4-1 by the Stars.

The Preds were definitely no match for the Stars that night. Our first goal was our second short-handed goal of the season from Brian Sutherby after Mike Modano took a 4 minute double minor for hi-sticking (and causing injury to) Sullivan. Mark Parrish, Brad Richards and Steve Ott scored the other 3 goals that night. Jason Arnott got the lone goal for Nashville.

Then Wednesday, Gretzky and his Coyotes were in town. The last meeting between these two teams, both goalies got a shut out but Phoenix came out as the winner. It was the same score Wednesday, with the Stars coming up on the 0 column and it ending in regulation this time. It was a hard fought game between both sides. The Stars were getting plenty of chances, but just weren’t able to get anything past Ilya Bryzgalov who was obviously sick of losing. The team had been 0-6 since the All-Star break and were playing like a team ready for a win. Enver Lisin ended up with the lone goal of the night.

Now, onto something a little more amusing, this is one reason I love our beat writers; dedicating an entire post to whether or not Tipp should grow his stache back. Being that I’m a superstitious hockey fan, I vote no considering how well we did in the playoffs last year.

Last season, I did a post showing where everyone was after exactly half a season of play, 41 games. I did it again this year. I actually spent about 2 hours getting it all in order last week but kept forgetting to post it. We’re not a few games past the mid-season point, but whatevs. Here is what the standings looked like.

Saturday, the Stars headed to Nashville for their 3rd game against the Predators this season. Each team had won one so far, each win coming at home. The Stars one home win came in Fabian Brunnstrom’s debut, you know that one where he scored a hat trick.

Tobias Stephen got his 3rd start of the season, he had been 1-1 so far, his win coming against the Wild. He looked a bit nervous in the beginning of the game, but who wouldnt’ be when you’re hearing nonstop that the team thinks you’re unproven, and this is only the 3rd chance you’re being given to prove yourself? (We are not going to include those games he came in to relieve Marty, because that was just cruel the non-support he received.)

Joel Ward got the first goal of the night, just under 4 and a half minutes into the game. It was a nice move, I’ll give him that. He faked and Tobi fell for it, coming out of the net to try to grab the puck, only to have Ward skate by and put it into the empty net Tobi had left behind. J.P. Dumont and Dan Hamhuis got the assists. The first penalty was called with just over 6 minutes remaining inthe period, Rich Peverly with holding. The Stars continued with something they had used the night before against Detroit, which was having no D-men at the point. Instead, they had Richards and Modano covering the point. The second PP line consisted of mostly Swedes, since they have been some of our best players lately. The Stars just looked sloppy overall in the first period. There was a close call with 2 minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the first; Grossman tried to use the boards to get the puck behind the net towards Daley. Only it took a bad turn and headed straight for the net to a waiting Predators who shot it but Stephan’s glove and the goal post made the save to keep it 1-0.

Stephan seemed to really get more comfortable in the second period. He made one fantastic glove save 2 minutes into the second. A Predators slammed one towards the net, and Ralphie had to stop himself after starting the word scores in “he shoots he scores” before he realized that Tobias had made the save. The Preds took their second penalty of the night 6 minutes into the period, and sadly almost half the Stars PP was spent defending their own goal. They really need to get their PP turned around. I think Razor put it best that night when he said “You get the sense that someone will score on the Stars power play tonight. We’re not quite sure who or which team, but somebody might.” The Stars first penalty of the night belonged to Matt Niskanen who took a holding call. But J.P. Dumont took a hi-sticking penalty of his own so it was 4-on-4 for two minutes. There was some good that came of the second period. For one, the score remained 1-0 thanks to the tremendous play of Tobias Stephan. Chris Conner got a breakway of his own during the second, only to get knocked down before he could get a good shot off. “Ka-dingyding” as Razor put it. Barch got a good chance of his own, getting the puck past ex-Stars goalie Dan Ellis but having it go off the post and out.

The Stars were 1-11-1 when trailing after 40 minutes, compared to the Preds being 6-1 after leading after 40. And almost right out of the game, Chris Conner takes a tripping penalty less than a minute into the third. Luckily the Stars were able to kill it, and actually got some nice shots on Ellis during their PK. Nashville takes their final penalty of the night, Jerred Smithson with slashing right off the face-off. The Stars are 30th in road power play, going 3 for the last 50. Ouch. David Legwand makes it 2-0 Preds with a goal he shot five-hole right in Stephan’s face. Ward got his second of the night, getting in an empty netter with a minute and a half remaining in the game.

Between sloppy play and way too many giveaways, Tobias Stephan is who kept them in this game and he deserved a better fate. It would have been 5-0 had he not been as amazing as he was. But that is what happens when you have an exhausted team in front of you.

I am taking a page from Tim MacMahon (who I love. YES I AM CONFESSING MY LOVE FOR YOU!) by calling him the Swedish dude. For those of you who are asking “huh?” I am talking about Mr. Fabian Brunnstrom.

Boy oh boy DO I LOVE THIS KID! Not only did he become the second Stars rookie this season to score his first NHL goal in his debut game, but became the 3rd player in HISTORY to get a HAT TRICK, yes a FUCKING HAT TRICK, in his first game! It hasn’t been done in 29 years, not even by the second coming of Gretzky, Sidney Crosby. Hell, not even Gretzky did it. Now, I’m not saying he is going to be as amazing as Gretzky was with the scoring, but still. It’s fun to say. (Gretzky’s face after their loss tonight was also classic. As was the player faceplanting himself on the ice after the Blackhawks scored.)

Before I go off on how much I love him, I could talk about the rest of the team. They finally looked like a team. They passed better, communicated better and just played better in general. Tonight was the first time they started to pick up from where they left off last season. Loui Eriksson almost got the scoring started, but Brenden Morrow was being called for goalie interference. Sigh, the refs were set on penalizing him like crazy. Stephane Robidas got the scoring started in the first with a power play goal with help from the Mike’s, Modano and Ribiero.

The second period was high scoring, 6 goals in all. Mike Modano put the Stars up 2-0 with help from his linemates for the night Crombeen and Petersen. Nashville tied it up in the next 10 minutes, with goals from Radek Bonk (assists from Erat and Peverley) and Patric Hornqvist (assists from Weber and Suter). The Stars managed 2 more goals, both coming from Fabian Brunnstrom. The first assisted by Petersen and Boucher and the second from Richards and Avery, who were his linemates of the night. His first two career goals bookended a goal from Ryan Jones.

Just under 11 minutes into the third, the Preds tied it up, again. And just over 6 minutes later, the magic happened. From a gorgeous feed from Richards behind the net, that Swedish dude nets his first career hat trick on just his 3rd NHL goal. He almost got a 4th goal, but the play had been waved dead just before the puck entered the net due to a Preds player getting injured. Mike Modano stuck the nail in the Preds coffin by getting an empty-netter with 4 seconds left. I am going to have to kiss the person who got me the free tickets tonight, because what a fantastic game to attend. The team really seemed to be energetic, I guess getting off to a 0-1-1 start was all the motivation they needed to get their act together. Mike Modano was more physical tonight than I’ve seen him in a while, and it was awesome to see. Oh goodness.

Now, on to gush about the boy that is Fabian. First to quote Tippett about this fantastic boy.

“The process is going well. He played a solid game,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said. “The goals are easy to see, but I was very impressed with the way that he played a pretty simple, error-free game, did what he was supposed to do and he capitalized on some chances. It’s a great start for him. Again, it’s not just the goals, it’s the other things that he’s doing out there that make you feel good about where he’s come from. He’s a good player and he’s going to continue to improve.”

He played a great, great game. Especially for a rookie. He was interviewed after the game, and had this to say:

“I scored 3 goals and that was fun, but more important was that we won the game and now we have our first win. It was a lot of fun tonight.” “…I just try to go out, work hard and enjoy the game. I’m really glad to be a part of the NHL. I’m having fun right now.” “…Dallas, I love everything about it and the organization. They have been so great to me.”

And with that first quote, he became Sergei “I like winning” Zubov’s favorite teammate. I love. This kid. So much. NHL on the Fly included all 3 of his goals in their Ice Pix; his first goal was number 5, his second number 3 and his hat trick was number 1. Fantastic. Bloody fantastic. Yes, I said bloody. Speaking of, I must mention that I approved of at least one thing Avery did tonight during the game. Someone from the Preds had hit Brunnstrom and knocked his helmet off, so Avery went after him. Good boy Avery, that is one way to get into my good graces.

It’s only our 3rd game of the season and it’s already the second time we’re seeing the Preds. What doesn’t seem right about this? A lot, I think. Here’s hoping it goes better than Saturday. Even my friend, who is a die-hard Preds fan expected us to win Saturday, I think it came as a shock to everyone. All I can say is “come on Stars, don’t let me down.” I am tired of attending games where we lose, I would like to hear Stevie Ray Vaughn more. Please and thank you. I mean that.

On a side note, HOW BOUT LITTLE MITTENS?! Tuesday night against the Atlanta Thrashers he scored 2 goals and got an assist!! He is tied with Koivu for most points on the team at 4 (3 goals and 1 assist) and leads the team in goals. Good boy Mittens, I knew you could do it. I guess the birds he drew us for Caitlin’s Christmas present were flying north..

I don’t even know what to say, honestly. The Stars are playing like they did in the pre-season, badly with a few good plays thrown in every now and again. I know, it’s only 2 games into the season, but as they said during the post game show today, it isn’t the losing that is worrying me but the way they are playing. I’m not going to start panicing unless this trend continues into next week, but it’s definitely something that needs to be worked on.

Stars lost 3-1 to the Nashville Predators. Lots of work still needing to be done, because falling behind in the beginning of the season is not fun. You don’t want to have to spend the rest of the season playing catch up.